Production of ammonia and catalytic agents for use therein.



UNITED PATENT o r-ion,

cnml'soscn, Anwm m'r'rnscn, ms woLr, or-L nwIo'snAr-En-om'rnn BH lINEfAND :GEORG STERN, OF MQANNHEIM, GERMQNY,ZASSIGNOB$ TO BADISCHE ANIIIN &-SODA FABRIK, 01 LUDWIGSHAFEN-ON-THE-BHINE, GERMANY. A 0011- 1 romrron.

- rnonucrion or AMMONIA Ann CATALYTIC nenn'rs m can 'rrmnnm,

' Specification of'letters Patent.

ratenteaaui aaia a No Drawing. Original application filed December 24, 1910, Serial No, 599,100. Divide'dand this application 1 7 filed January 10, 1912. Serial No. 870,443.

. To all 'whom'it may concern:

Beit known that we, CARL Boson, Amvm Mrrmson, IIANSLYOLF, and Gsono STERN,-

subjects the first and fourth ofthe King of Prussia,.the second of the King of Saxony, 'and the third of the King of Bavaria, re-

siding the first three at.l'mdwigshafenmnthe-Rhine and the fourth at Mannheim, all

"in (rel-many. have inventedcertain new and useful improvements inlthc Production of rhmmmiayzrml Catalytic Agents for 'Iise 'llierein,which invention is divided out of ourapplicationfor Letters latent, Serial f No.-599,1( 'filed December 24,1910, and of which the following: is a specification.

7 Our invention relates to the mamifacture of ammonia by synthesis from its elements and to catalytic agents fol-use in the said manufacture. v y i 1n the specification of our application for patent Serial No."599,10 1 we have described a new form of iron which is capable of use as a-catalyti'cagent in the manufacture of tain bodies which we have termedfpro moters. We have further shown in the. said specification that certain other bodies act. as contact poisons and tend to destroy ."the catalytic power of iron for oonvertinga ammonia from its elements, and we have further shownth at the catalytic power of iron can-be improved by the presence of cer-' mixture'of nitrogen and hydro'gen'i-nto ammonia. Further, in the application'for "patcut-Serial No. 599,100 is described and" claimed generically-the production of am-' 'monia 'when makinguse o f'a catalytic'agent,

: together witha promoter in each case. In

this application we now desire to claim specifically the production of ammonia;- while,

malnng'use of manganese and a promoter,

and also s'uch catalytic mixture itself. Such catalytic mixture 1 are 7 production and claimed, generically in the aforesaid appli- V cation Ser. No. 599,100, but are not clalmed so monia by synthesis "can also be improved by specifically therein. In continuing our re;

searches on the synthetic manufacture of the-presence of 'promoters, and that other bodies act as'j contactpoisons. As 'a general rule admitting of several exceptions,, coin'--' pounds of the alkali metalsandthe alkaline.

earth metals act as promoters of the cat;

lytic power. Onthe other hand,- the metalloids,'such for instance as sulfur, selenium,

tellurium, arsenic, phosphorus, and also the easily fusible and ea such for instance as 'le dttln, and zinc, genly reducible metals,

erally act as contactpoisons, Whether the thereof, Sinceit isevidentthat' during the passage of the mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen over" the contactfmaterial the body or promoter. .added may undergo some chemical 'change, 'vve do not wish to be'un derstood as confining our invention to the 1 use of the specific 'compounds'of the elements mentioned. j' g j i a 'Althoug'h we have mentioned a number saidjelement beiadded'or be present as'such or" in the form of a suitable compound.

of bodiesfwh'ich act as promoters and a nu1 n-' stances do not exhaustth'e number of bodies "having the effects mentioned. We have found thatan enormous number of bodies have-more or less; action in the ways men 'ber ofinstances of contact poisons, these in- Y tioned, and thesebo'dies belong to various metals -or-compounds thereof will act as promoters,- and wefdo-not desire our patent to, be restricted to promoters which fall into the classes. of alkaline earths and alkalis. W e have devised a simple'test whereby it can readily be' ascertained whether any body is a promoter infthe sense of this 'specifica thin. "The test is conducted as follows: Prepare. an intimate mixture of the test body andthemanganese catalyst in asuitable way. ,{Ihis maybe done in some cases by =mechanical mixture, in others by chemical precipitation'on to the catalyst, or by mixingamalg'ams ofi-the two metals and then distllling ofl the mercury, or by reducing a 'mixture of their ,chlorids .or of their oxids -with hydrogen or ammonia,'or b ya suitable combination of one or more of these 'methods. Setthe product so obtained as a ,",c atalyst in a tube-furnace side by side with another tube containing an equal quantity of the untreated catalyst Without any addition, and pass equal currents of amixture Of IIItIOgQII and hydrogen in their combin- 1ng proportions through both tubes under identical conditions, and measure the quantity of ammonia obtained in both cases. If .the yield, of ammonia be increased by the treatment with the added body, this may be regarded as a promoter.

suitable for use as promoters. Generally speaking, any one or more of the aforesaid promoters can be employed. When working according to this invention, yields of six per cent. or more of ammonia can readily be obtained. I f

The following example' will serve to illustrate further the nature of our invention, which, however, is not in any way confined to this example. Add a. small quantity of potassium oxid to. an amalgam. of mercury and manganese, and then heat in a current of pure dry ammonia gas until the mercury has distilled away, and then place the ren'iaining. mass in a contact tube and pass amixture of pure nitrogen and hydrogen in combining proportions through the tube while employing a pressure of about 200 at-';

niospheres and at a temperature of about It has been found advantageous that the catalytic mixture-consist of manganese and a rom'oter which belongs preferably to a di erentgroup. Thus for instance, mixtures of manganese and osmium, or of manganese and vanadium, or their nitrogen comthis invention.

pounds, are also suitablefor the purposes of We do not claim in this present application generically the production of ammonia while making use of a catalytic agent together with a promoter in each case, such production and such catalytic mixtures being embodied in the claims of the aforesaid application Serial No. 599,100, filed Decemher 24th, 1910.

Now what we claim is I 1. An active catalyst for the manufacture of ammonia from its elements containing manganese and a promoter.

2. An active catalyst for the manufacture of ammonia from its elements containing manganese and an oxid of an alkali-forming metal.

3. An active catalyst for the manufacture of ammonia from its elements containing manganese and sodium oxid.

4. An active catalyst for the manufacture of ammonia. from its elements containing manganese and hydrated sodium oxid.

The process of manufacturing ammonia by passing a mixture containing nitrogen and hydrogen'free from contact poison over an active catalyst containing manganese and a. promoter. e

6. The process of manufacturing ammonia by passing a mixture containing nitrogen and hydrogen free from contact poison over an active catalyst containing manganese and an oxid of an alkali-forming metal.

7 The process of manufacturing ammonia by passing a mixture containing nitrogen and hydrogen free from contact poison over an active catalyst containing manganese and.

sodium oxid.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing .witnesses.

OYXRL BOSCH. ALWIN MITTASCH. HANS WOLF. GEORG STERN.

Witnesses:

J. ALEC. LLOYD,

A. O. 'TITTMAN. 

